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Publishing content in CMYK

Thursday, November 26 2009 @ 4:41 PM, By Nakshatra Bhardwaj

On Windows, CMYK colors used to convert to RGB in PDF generated from FrameMaker. With Framemaker9, it is now possible to generate PDF retaining CMYK colors on Windows, similar to existing CMYK support in Solaris.
This feature is available in ‘Save as PDF’ route, using a check box ‘Convert CMYK colors to RGB’ added in PDF setup dialog. By default, check box “Convert CMYK colors to RGB’ is checked which means CMYK colors would be converted to RGB in generated PDF as was happening before FrameMaker 9.0

To use this new functionality of retaining CMYK colors in PDF, user needs to do the following:
• Uncheck the check box ‘Convert CMYK colors to RGB’ option in PDF setup dialog.
This can be done using Menu options: Format->Document->PDF Setup OR use File->Save as PDF to bring up the PDF setup dialog.

• Along with this, color setting in distiller job options needs to be changed.
Job options can be edited using distiller OR from within FrameMaker using menu: File->Print Setup. Select ‘Adobe PDF’ as printer and click on Properties. Go to tab ‘Adobe PDF Settings’ and click on “edit’ for job option. In ‘Color’ tab, for Color Management Policies, select ‘Leave Color Unchanged’. Use this job option while publishing PDF.

CMYK support for Graphic formats:
In Framemaker9.0, CMYK content in Graphics formats like TIFF/JPEG/PSD/EPS will also be preserved with this new CMYK functionality.

The support for retaining CMYK colors in these graphic formats has also been extended for legacy route (“Convert CMYK colors to RGB’ checked) using a flag in maker.ini. User has to make an entry ‘ConvertGraphicsToEPS’ in maker.ini and set it to ON.

Spot Color Support:
FrameMaker has color libraries like, PANTONE, TOYO etc and legacy PDF generation route (RGB) is not able to support these libraries when chosen as Spot Color. CMYK support in FrameMaker also enhances PDF generation with support for these SPOT colors.
Define a new color using Color Libraries in View->Color->Definitions dialog and choose Spot in ‘Print As’ option in the dialog box. Apply this color to any FrameMaker object and generate PDF through new CMYK route. Spot color information is preserved in PDF.

Utilize the new feature and share your valuable feedback to make it better.